Keima Katsuragi
Character Overview Keima Katsuragi (桂木 桂馬 Katsuragi Keima) is the main protagonist of The World God Only Knows manga series, written and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki. He's known in the gaming world as the "The God of Conquest" (落とし神 Otoshi-gami) for being extremely skilled at conquering every girl in dating sims. He's known in his normal life as "Otomegane" (オタメガネ), a portmanteau of "Otaku" (オタク Nerd) and "Megane" (メガネ Glasses). "Otamegane" can roughly be translated to "gloomy geek with glasses", referring to his silent and extremely cold behavior. Keima is obsessed with games, to the point of closing himself up in his own room and playing for 3 days straight, just to make it for his "deadline" on the Internet. Appearance Keima has brown hair and eyes, wears glasses, has a bed hair sticking out and usually has a PFP in his hands. His uniform varies by season. When he's not wearing it, he wears a long-sleeved shirt with a white collar and pants. He's also forced to wear a guillotine collar on his neck, proving he made a contract with Hell. Keima is also shown to be quite handsome, especially without his spectacles.This is apparent, when should Keima ever approach a capture target, most of them tends to be flustered. When he cross-dressed, he was able to enlarge his pupils, thus making himself look like a girl. He also seems to be able to transform his face to a less attractive one when he doesn't want to be identified. Personality At the start of the series, Keima is completely detached from reality (although in a very friendly manner), showing absolutely no interest in any real girl, even pointing out that they are flawed. He hates virtually everything from reality, even himself. As a result, he takes refuge in his 2D world. As the series progresses, Keima slowly changes his view of the real. At first, he would verbally abuse and sometimes hit Elsie out of her antics, but as each chapter/episode goes on, he bullies Elsie less and less often. Recently, Keima has entirely stopped playing his PFP (he has only begin trying to play them recently) and is very devoted to searching for the goddesses, something he would never have done at the start of the series. Abilities Intellegence Despite the fact he plays video games in class, Keima is a top scorer in every subject. When he was scolded by his English teacher Ichirō Kodama because of his gaming habits, he reasoned that everything would be fine as long as he aced all his exams, and then proceeded to do so, demonstrating a great academic ability. It is shown that he applies the same analytical skills he utilities to "capture" girls when studying. This method was proven effective when he flawlessly predicted the questions on the upcoming English test, basing himself on the teacher's personality and the examination extent. In the Omake, it is said that Keima has modified his PFP, granting them never before seen abilities that normal PFPs don't possess.This may hint that Keima is also good with technology. Capturing Skills During captures, he is shown to be able to use his vast knowledge of galge to help him. Although some of his techniques backfired, Keima has always managed to get to the roots of the girls' emotional problems, showing great adaptability.His skill in conquesting girls may be inherited from his father, as his father was able to "conquest" Mari who used to be in a biker gang. As the story progresses, his perspective of real girls becomes different. Nevertheless, he remains faithful to his "2D girls", and in particular, to Yokkyun . Keima is also capable of carrying multiple PFPs, even during swimming lessons. Physical Prowess In terms of physical abilities, he has been shown to be from average to horribly unfit. This is due to his obsessive gaming habits, leading him to ignore the outside world and game in his room for extended periods. He has, however, been shown to be capable of running quickly for extended periods of time while excited, as shown when he had just discovered Yokkyun in the anime, leading him to run from his home to school, while Elsie struggled to keep up with him. Keima has demonstrated to be able to withstand being electrocuted (by Kanon), kicked (by Ayumi), punched (by some other girls) and even attacked relentlessly (by Nora) without sustaining any major injuries, showing great physical endurance, which even seems to extend to his PFP. Finally, (perhaps as a gag) Keima has shown even supernatural abilities for instance, when he heard that there are going to have new games , he magically floats to the game store. Plot Overview Ayumi Takahara Arc At the beginning of the series, Keima is seen trying to conquer a heroine in one of his games. Nikaido, his school teacher, asks him if his game is more interesting than class. He coldly answers that she should wait until he gets to the save point. In the hallway, Ayumi Takahara, a girl who loves running, crashes into him. She asks Keima to clean up the rooftop alone. Keima says that he is busy, but Ayumi is already heading to practice before he finishes talking, leaving only the broom behind her. After finishing the cleaning of the rooftop, Keima sits on a bench, turns on his PFP, and answers to every email he's got. The last email challenges him to conquer a girl. He thinks it's just a provocation, but still accepts the challenge. Suddenly, dark clouds cover the sky, and a lightning strike hits the rooftop, revealing a girl descending from the sky. Shocked, Keima isn't able to do anything when the unknown girl grabs him and flies. They stop in a classroom, and Keima then proceeds to ask information about her. The girl introduces herself as Elucia de Lute Ima and says she's looking for runaway spirits. After discussing about the contract and the collar, Keima and Elsie head to the place where the runaway spirit was located. It is revealed that the girl who is possessed by the runaway spirit is none other than Ayumi. Keima sets up his strategy, which consists of supporting her during her training sessions, using encouragement banners. Ayumi thinks he's taking revenge for making him clean up the rooftop alone. During the first days, she kicks and verbally abuses him, but eventually ignores him. During one of her training sessions, Ayumi's senpais complain that she's using the field before them, and force her to run 30 laps. On the day before the competition, Ayumi stumbles on one of the hurdles, hurting her foot. Keima then asks her to go to the school at night, through a letter he placed in a fruit basket he gave her. Ayumi appears, asking him why he did such a thing. Keima answers that in reality, she is just simulating her injury. After explaining that she did such a thing in order to let her senpai compete in her stead, Ayumi says she can't finish first. Keima answers that she is already first in his heart. Embarrassed, Ayumi tries to beat up Keima, until she sees the pair of sneakers he hid in the fruit basket. She thanks him with a kiss, and finishes first in the competition the next day. After this, she forgets everything but shows her medal to Keima, calling him "Katsuragi", not "Otamega". Keima congratulates her, but his classmates interrupt the conversation. Keima gets confused, but it is soon revealed that the source of the commotion is Elsie, who transferred in his class, saying she is his little sister. Mio Aoyama Arc After the events of the Ayumi Takahara arc, Elsie and Keima focus on another target. In the classroom, Elsie writes a letter to him, which she passes over to Chihiro. Chihiro reads it aloud : "I'm sorry about what happened last night in the bathroom". This causes a commotion, and the boys of the class ask Keima how it was, making him embarrassed. Later, Elsie tries to follow him but he walks quickly, trying to avoid her. At the school store, they see people pushing each other. Keima explains that they're trying to buy an Omelet Soba Bread, the most popular food in Maijima Private High School. A girl named Mio Aoyama, whose manners are that of rich people, appears and buys the whole bread stock, leaving the others with no food. Elsie's sensor then rings, indicating that Mio is the host of a runaway spirit. Later, Keima confesses to Mio, but it fails. He explains that the failure is part of his plan. He then follows her on her way home, using Elsie's hagoromo, and learns the shocking truth about Mio, whose father passed away. After an argument with her driver, Mio is left alone. Keima asks her if he can become her driver. She accepts, and abuses him. Later, he sees an invitation for a party in her mail box and says that he sees the ending. He then calls over Mio to come at the party, where the former friends of her father disrespect her while she is waiting for Keima. When she leaves, she sees Keima, who asks her to dance with him. After dancing, he tries to reason with Mio, saying she must move on. They kiss, and Elsie captures the runaway spirit. The next day, Mio asks Keima how much an omelet soba bread costs, and Keima answers that she has enough money to buy two. Kanon Nakagawa Arc At home, the Katsuragis are watching a TV show, in which an idol named Kanon Nakagawa is singing. Elsie says she's cute, but Keima shows disrespect to Kanon, arguing that idols are relics from the previous era. The next day, Keima meets Kanon on the rooftop of Maijima High. After talking to herself, she notices him, thinking he also noticed her, and tires to start a conversation, but Keima coldly asks who she is. Kanon, shocked that he doesn't know her, uses a stun gun on him, erasing all his game saves. Elsie then appears, asking Keima why he didn't tell her that Kanon is a classmate of theirs. Noticing Kanon, Elsie grabs Keima's PFP, asking her for an autograph. Keima takes back his PFP, tries to clean the screen, but notices that Kanon used indelible ink. Again, Elsie asks Keima why he didn't tell her that Kanon was in the same class as them. Hearing that, Kanon carbonizes Keima, using both of her stun guns. She finally leaves, saying she'll defeat him. In the hallway, students are taking photos of her, while she's thinking about taking revenge on Keima. The next day, Keima notices a CD in his desk, with a note asking him to come to the rooftop, signed by Kanon. On the rooftop, she asks him to keep it a secret, and starts singing All 4 U. Keima totally ignores her performance, making her depressed. She brings out her stun guns, but a sudden call from her manager saves Keima from electrocution. Before leaving, Kanon asks him to come to the rooftop again at the same time on the following day. The next day, Kanon sings Happy Crescent for Keima, a song that has not yet been released. He falls asleep, making her depressed to the point of becoming invisible. Keima and Elsie look carefully, and see that she's not fully invisible. Reminiscing the past, Kanon tells herself that she is not an idol, and that no one is listening to her songs. To cheer her up, Keima says that he did listen to her song, but she doesn't believe him, taking out her stun guns. In a pinch, Keima tells her that he was sleeping because her performance was so good it took him to Heaven. Convinced, she leaves. After Elsie tells Keima that he is irritating Kanon, he answers that he's doing it in order to know why she has a gap in her heart. Keima tells Elsie that in dating sims, one must do everything to learn what are the girls' problems. He then receives a mail from Kanon. He reveals that he secretly put the CD she gave him in her coat, with his email address. Keima and Elsie then go to the Narusawa TV studios, to check up on Kanon. She asks Keima whether her performances had an impact on him or not. Keima answers positively, reverting Kanon back to her normal state. She then asks if she can exchange emails with him. Before he can answer, Keima gets an email from her, filled with the words "I'm couting on you". During the following days, Kanon harasses Keima to the point of sending him thirty-six emails per day. In the anime, they have a secret date. Keima asks why she called him, to which she answers that she just wanted to see him. At the Narusawa Dome, she tells Keima that she's having her first major solo concert, with 10,000 people attending. Keima, seemingly uninterested, takes out his PFP. Kanon scolds him because he doesn't listen to her and always plays games. Surprised, she notices that Keima is actually listening to her songs. She asks to praise her if he likes her songs. He does so, but Kanon has to leave for rehearsals. Elsie says that everything is going smoothly, and that Keima could have kissed Kanon before she left. He does not agree, thinking that something is missing. On the day of the concert, Keima and Elsie overhear Okada saying that Kanon has gone missing. After hours of searching, they can't find her, as she is invisible. Elsie suggests using her runaway spirit sensor. It immediatly reacts, and Elsie leaves to search for her. Keima then notices that Kanon is sitting on the same bench as him, and asks her what she is doing here. She hesitates, but Keima tells her that she's afraid of becoming invisible again, and that when nobody notices her nor praises her, she feels like she's fading away. Kanon answers that Keima is right on every point, and suddenly hugs him, asking him to stay with her forever and to support her. She tries to kiss Keima, but he rejects her. Keima asks her to stop leaving things to other people. He praises her songs, saying that she must use her own power to shine, and that when her light is gone, her fans demand for her. He tells her that he can't have her only for himself. She answers that she would have been happy singing for only one person, and finally kisses Keima, thus freeing herself from the runaway spirit, which Elsie captures. When watching Kanon's performance, Elsie teases Keima, asking if his opinion on idols improved. Keima answers that Kanon is not an idol anymore, she's a star, shining by herself. Shiori Shiomiya Arc From the beginning, Keima immediately catches her attention and anger by saying that physical books are no longer necessary in a digital era. As Keima continues to vandalize the books in the library, she becomes more and more communicative each time. Near the end of her story arc, she learns that three thousand books are to be disposed of, in order to accommodate an audio-visual booth. Protesting, she locks down the building and barricades herself in the library. After Keima literally descends into the library and gives her "courage", she finally overcomes her silence. After the incident, Shiori is able to speak to people normally and continues her work at the library. However, she has some faint memories of her encounters with Keima and writes a story based on what she remembers. During his search for the goddesses, Keima suspects that Shiori is a host, as the story she wrote is similar to their previous encounters. Kusunoki Kasuga Arc Keima tries to explain things about runaway spirits to Elsie, using a drawing. When Elsie sees the drawing, she laughs at it and takes it to show Keima's skills at drawing to everyone, making him embarrassed. He chases after her, but she soons bumps into three delinquents, whom Keima calls "parsley". Furious, they start beating Keima up. As he struggles to apologize, a tall girl comes to his aid, introducing herself as Kusunoki Kasuga. After unsuccessfully trying to indimidate the delinquents, she blows their leader away, thus scaring them. She then asks Keima why he didn't stand up for himself, and walks away. Elsie comes back, and the runaway spirit sensor reacts. After this, Kusunoki receives a formal introduction as Keima and Elsie sit outside of her club’s room. Before Elsie can fully comment on how hard it will be for him, Keima has already bowed down, asking to become Kusunoki's pupil. She doesn't agree and can’t see how Keima could learn to become a warrior, but upon seeing his face, she gives in. Keima starts as the cleaner of the clubroom, commenting on Kusunoki's habits and having to throw a cat out. This cat quickly returns to Kusunoki in the locker room though, and when Keima returns from cleaning the clubroom, he finds her holding it, revealing why Kusunoki is possessed by a runaway spirit. Surprised, Kusunoki runs off and prepares to throw the cat away with her weakness, also commenting on how she’ll “change” Keima’s face. However, something stops her, and as she remembers her past, another side of herself appears behind her. Keima tells her that this other side of her reacts to weakness, and says that she must seize the opportunity to get rid of it. In order to draw it out, Elsie suggests that Keima and Kusunoki should go on a date. On the day of their date, Kusunoki tries to make it clear that Keima and her aren't really on a date, while the sight of her in a dress draws a lot of attention. This results in her splitting again as well, but this time, the split self actually defends itself against her attacks. After this, Keima and Kusunoki go to the arcade, where Kusunoki takes pride in beating the high score, while Keima gets the maximum score. Later, they go to the cinema and to an amusement park, but the feminine part of Kusunoki still doesn't show up. Kusunoki asks Keima to share an ice cream with her. The feminine part of Kusunoki appears and starts fighting with herself. After unsuccessfully trying to defeat her, Kusunoki wonders why she is unable to win. Keima tells her to seek a greater form of strength by accepting her feminine side. Her feminine side gives up and admits that she had fun. But before disappearing, she seizes control of Kusunoki's body to kiss Keima. Doing so, the runaway spirit leaves her body, and Elsie captures it. Chihiro Kosaka Arc When Elsie goes back to school again and complains that there is another whole week of study in front of them, as it is a Monday, Chihiro tells her that she must not think about the day as a Monday but as a Wednesday. Later, Elsie was seen asking about help as Keima was depresses but then Chihiro denies helping her because 'what good would it do her' and 'that if she came into contact with Keima, she might get infected'. Keima then walks away and Elsie later senses Chihiro to be the next holder of a spirit. Afterwards Keima and Elsie witnessed her confessing and being rejected by a boy, the captain of the soccer team. Elsie then sees Chihiro crying. Later the next day, Chihiro greeted Elsie normally and started telling her that what she saw yesterday was uncool, which causes Keima to then want to cheer her up until she starts going on about the next boy that she likes. Eventually after that, he is seen to be reacting madly towards her and leading to the point where Chihiro later stomps on him out of anger, calling him a cockroach. After that Keima and Chihiro eventually end up coming back together to clean up the classroom with each other. Then later she starts talking to Keima about which boy she likes. Keima wants to help her, but she is then seen to be showing some interest in Keima. Later that day, it got to the point that she was so in love with Keima that she eventually refuses to confess to the other boy that she originally likes.This causes Keima to become mad because everything that he has done for her was for nothing. Later, Chihiro disappears and is eventually found hanging out at a ship nearby the school. She then talks with Keima, leading to the point of them kissing, causing the spirit inside her to be released and captured by Elsie. Old Conquest Arc After conquering 14 girls, Keima accepts to help the goddess Diana by searching for her sisters, who may reside within the girls Keima conquered. As the Jupiter Sisters have the power to reseal the evil spirits back to Hell, Keima's contract will end if he finds them. But he soon gets involved in a conspiracy, as a mysterious group from Hell called Vintage plans to revive the Old Demons of Hell. When one of Keima's previous conquests, Kanon, is injured by a Vintage assassin for possessing a goddess inside of her, Keima, feeling guilty for not protecting her, plans to find the other goddesses quickly in a week in order to save her life. First, he plans to get Elsie to play the role of Kanon to make sure that she is not missed by her fans. Then he requests Haqua to play the role of Elsie and be his "Buddy" during the week while he re-captures the goddesses. Relationships Family Mari Katsuragi Keima's relationship with his mother is as normal as possible. Despite the turmoil that Elsie has apparently wreaked in the family's stability, Mari seems to consider him a good child deep down, though she is concerned with his obsessive gaming habits and constantly wonders whether she brought him up incorrectly. When Elsie questions her with regards to Keima, she reveals that she is in fact deeply worried about his future and sometimes dreams of him being a normal, doting child. Even though she is past expecting such behavior from Keima, Keima still demonstrates that he cares for and loves his mother when he and his on-the-outs father attempt to secretly buy her a birthday present. Mari has also stated that Keima and her used to kiss regularly, implying that Mari showed lots of affection to Keima in the past. Keiichi Katsuragi Keiichi is Keima's father. It seems that he's always away on a trip. It is unknown whether he approves Keima's current status of being a gamer or not. Keima and his father don't seem to be on bad terms, as Keima got angry at Elsie when she said she was his father's illegitimate daughter, causing unnecessary trouble for Keiichi and possibly ruining his marriage with Mari. Keima also teams up with his father, who is still overseas, to buy a birthday gift for his mother. Denma Katsuragi Being Keima's grandfather, Denma really loves him. Each time Keima has visited, he has given him some sort of gift related to game girls, even though this doesn't impress Keima. Keima takes care of his gifts, out of respect for Denma's feelings, seemingly caring about him. Buddy Elucia de Lute Ima Initially Keima saw Elsie as a useless annoyance he'd been unjustly saddled with as a result of the numerous troubles she had caused him, ranging from seemingly severely damaging his parents' marriage by claiming she was the illegitimate daughter of his father to attempting to feed him recipes from hell, which were usually alive and sometimes attempted to attack him; including, of course, the fact that she had now landed him with a contract that he had to carry out, or else risk death. However, he seems to have come to accept her as a regular fixture in his life, despite her comedic incompetence, and has on some occasions even demonstrated concern for her wellbeing, such as when she entered a period of semi-depression after failing to capture a Level 4 escaped spirit, though it is unknown whether he did this because he was concerned for Elsie or because he was worried about the impact her depression would have on her ability to capture spirits. Even though Elsie is not actually his sister, he seems to come to have accepted her as at least that. Although he continues to subject Elsie to some light abuse every now and then, this sort of level should be expected from brother and sister. Of course, seeing as Elsie is occasionally hinted to have feelings beyond platonic for him, the situation may become complicated in the future. Targets Ayumi Takahara Keima considers Ayumi as a highly likely candidate to have a Goddess in her heart, due to her violent and angry reaction to him after Kanon confessed to him. She has on multiple occasions displayed signs of attraction to Keima, in addition to remembering what had happened between the two. Though Keima has yet to show any signs of attraction to Ayumi, he and she do seem to at least be on somewhat good terms and converse often, seeing as Ayumi is one of Elsie's best friends. Keima goes to her and Chihiro for advice when he seeks to cheer Elsie up, and is willing to help Ayumi study when the 2-B Pencils come to him in an attempt to score perfect scores on their next English test. Ayumi, like the rest of the "possible goddess holders", displayed hostility towards Keima after Kanon confessed to him. After hearing the news, she violently kicks him through the door of the classrom. Keima then tries to make her forgive him and to deepen their relationship, for the sake of making a goddess appear. Ayumi grows tired of this and tells him to leave her alone, but he refuses, saying that he will be her shadow and never leave her side, causing Ayumi to blush violently. Mio Aoyama Keima, recognizing Mio as tsundere stereotype and believing she was rich, thought conquest her will be difficult. However, after discovering she is actually poor, he decides make a bond by hiding her secret and riding her to school. Seeing she didn't fell for him, Keima understood she was pretending to be rich because of her deceased father. He takes her to a party she didn't want to go, dance together and Keima confronts Mio about her father. Mio decides to let go the past and they kiss, expelling the spirit from her body. Although she has forgotten Keima, she still blushes around him. Later, while being in Yui's body, Keima sees Mio in a bakery, after confirming there is no goddess inside her she wishes her good luck, showing he cares for her. Kanon Nakagawa Initially uninterested in her because of her being a real-life idol and disliking her for her yandere tendencies, Keima became Kanon's source of support and advice. When Kanon ran away from her concert and she asked him to always support, Keima said that she must not depend of others' attention and shine by herself and they kiss. After discovering she still remembers him and that she is the host of Apollo who is attacked by Vintage, Keima decides find the other goddess in order to save Kanon. Trivia * His first name is derived from the term "gamer". Keima's name could have also come from the names of his father and of his grandfather: Kei'ichi and Den'ma, or also from the name of his mother 'Ma'ri. The kanji “Kei” & “Katsura” in Keima's name are the same, but have different meanings. Kei is used in the name for knight in Shogi and Katsu is a Japanese Judas tree. * Keima does show that he cares for the girls he has conquered, as he kept the "promise" he made to Chihiro. * "Keima" (桂馬) is also the name of a shogi (Japanese chess) piece, which is similar to the knight in international chess. * In the one-shot version of Kaminomi, his name is "Keima Imai" and he is 16 years old. * He dislikes sweets and aggresive heroines (mostly Yui). * His email address was shown, on his PFP, to be "otoshi-god@zumcities.co.jp". * During Keima's brief stunt as an actual girl, he began to play otome games (games where the player character is a girl making guys fall in love with her, as opposed to other dating sims), a fact that caused him significant anguish and prompted a comedic scene depicting his will and testament. Yet, he was able to understand the girl's role in dating sims and learn from it. * His drawing skills are famously bad, to the point of being mocked by even Elsie. * Keima can use his God of Conquest Mode, which allows him to use six different game consoles to play six different dating sims at once. He can play more games simultaneously if he has more game consoles. * He likes to present things in numerical manner; such as saying that he has seen a certain type of girl 300 times in games. * His physical abilities are limited, as he is always doing games, unless he uses his God of Conquest mode or is deeply motivated. * Keima's spectacles is a reference to Wakaki Tamiki's earlier work, Holy Crystal Albatross, being that the heroine Asakura Sakura has the same kind spectacles. * Keima dislikes being touched, as he does not want to be touched by anything of the real. Also, he is not used to the physical contact. * In the manga, Keima's "guillotine" collar (and possibly all those who wears it) is black, while in the anime, it is purple. Quotes * (Either to himself or Elsie) "I can see the ending!" * (To Elsie) "I'll teach you something nice..." * (To Elsie) "Hmph! I have lived in the gaming world for 100,000 years!" * (To himself) "Reality is just garbage/a crappy game!" * (To Diana) "It is my fault... that your power hasn't returned. I've been an especial burden for both you and Tenri... Unlike the other girls, you know more about what's going on, so... I'm truly sorry." * (To Elsie Yui's body) "Otome games are interesting too! You should try them!" * (To Elsie) "I won't give in to the real!" * (To Elsie) "Don't be upset because of what you can't do. Do what you do best, live as carefreely and optimistically as you can, because some people aren't able to do that." * (To himself) "If the ideal world can be found in a bad game, it can be found in the real world as well." (Anime only) Category:Male Characters Category:Featured Articles Category:Maijima Category:Runaway Spirit Squad Member